Carrots, Eggs and Coffee

Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled 3 pots with water and brought each one to a boil. In the first she placed carrots, the second she placed eggs, and the last one she placed ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and boil without saying a word.Twenty minutes later she turned the burners off. She fished out the carrots and placed them in a bowl.
She pulled out the eggs and placed them in abowl. Then she ladled the coffee and placed it in bowl.
Turning to her daughter she asked "Tell me what you see?
"'Carrots, eggs, and coffee' she replied
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.
She noticed that they were soft.
Then asked her to take and egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.
Finally her mother asked her to take a sip of coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.
She asked "What does it mean, mother?'
Her mother replied that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water.
Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. It's thin outer shell had protected its inner liquid interior, but after sitting in boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After, they were in boiling water, they changed the water.
'Which are you?' she asked her daughter.
When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a carrot, and egg, or a coffee bean?
Think of this: Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am an egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after adversity have become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.

So how do you handle adversity?